Secret Saotomes
by brown phantom
Summary: Ranma Saotome is more than just a martial artist with a curse. He's a world-traveling expert of the paranormal. He has faced many things that others would not, but now he faces his greatest challenge yet: Multiple fiancees. Oh, and a mortal enemy out to control the world.
1. Chapter 1

'Bringing Ranma to Nerima. Genma'

These simple five words written on the back of a panda post card were enough to make a man cry with joy. "Finally, the day I've been waiting for is here."

He immediately got up and started running around. "Kasumi!" He yelled upon reaching the kitchen, seeing his first daughter preparing some food. "Head to the dining room. I've got something to tell you all."

Without waiting for a response he ran upstairs and opened the door to the bedroom of his second daughter, who shrieked in surprise. "Daddy! I keep telling you to knock!" She yelled, glad he didn't catch her doing anything she didn't want seen.

"Sorry Nabiki, but come downstairs. I've got big news." The man said before heading to another room. "Akane? Where is that girl?"

* * *

The girl is question was out jogging in the carless streets of Nerima, dressed in a yellow tank top that briefly gave glimpses of a dark sports bra underneath and yellow shorts with red strips down the sides of the hips. She would occasionally throw jabs while running, perfectly content in her own little world.

Until the loud sounds of some angry birds behind her got on her nerves and made her stop. She turned, frowning, and saw what looked like a cat trying to climb up a tree to get to a nest with some birds attacking it. The angle however made the tree block her view of the cat itself.

Even though she knew it was perfectly natural for cats to go after birds like this, Akane was already annoyed so she grabbed a rock and threw it at the cat, hitting its paws and making it let go. The sound of pain though was nothing like any feline she had ever heard before.

"What was that?" She asked herself, starting to wonder if it would have been smarter to just ignore the situation than give in to irritation.

The animal in question dropped from the tree voluntarily and got around the base, and now Akane could see this was clearly no cat. For one thing, it was easily bigger than most dogs, and while quadrepedic it barely looked like a cat at all. The legs looked similar to that of a tiger but that's where it stopped. The tail was covered in green scales and looked serpentine, and the head looked like a kind of feral monkey with a slight mane. And it looked rather angry.

Akane panicked. "It's a monster!" While the rational part of her couldn't believe there was a real monster in front of her, this was no ordinary animal and she couldn't deny what was so clearly evident.

Naturally the only thing she could do was resume running, this time not to jog but to flee. This was a bad idea, as most mammalian predators have the instinct to pursue something frightened that runs from them. So the creature ran after her, moving rather fast.

'My only hope is that this thing doesn't know the streets like I do.' Akane told herself, changing directions before it could catch her.

The creature didn't seem to be that nimble, so it couldn't turn as easily as she did, but it was fast while running straight. As a result, Akane had to make a lot of turns to keep it from getting her. All the while she kept running away from her home, not wanting to lead it there. She wanted to lose it.

'Now suddenly I wished I knew where that idiot Kuno lived. Let _him_ deal with the monster.' Akane thought, grateful that her self-managed training regime was keeping her from getting tired or muscle cramps. But it was starting to rain lightly, something she did not enjoy being out in. 'Great, rain. Well hopefully this creature doesn't like it either.'

If it didn't like the rain, it wasn't by enough to give up the chase.

Akane was forced to make another turn, because it was either that or jump into a canal, crossing the bridge above the waterway. But on the bridge a group suddenly appeared, startling Akane and making her fall on her rear.

"There it is." A red-haired teenage girl holding a staff said. Perched on her shoulder was a small lizard that looked somewhat like an iguana to Akane.

"Ya shaar?" An adult man who looked rather tall said with a strong slur, but he didn't look drunk. He wore a simple white tank top and black shorts but no shoes, and his tan hair had two tuffs in it making him look like he didn't know how to brush it. At his feet was a dog, but it looked somewhat like an ugly pug.

The creature that had been chasing Akane stopped, seeing the extra company, and stood its ground like a predator guarding its fresh kill from a rival.

"Yep, it's a definite Nue. And it looks like a cub too. The adult must not be that far from here." The redhead said.

'What is going on here? And there's more of this thing around?' Akane asked herself.

The redhead pointed out her staff which had a clawed hand at the end towards the creature, and her eyes glowed a soft jade color. The creature growled but its own eyes glowed the same color. "Good, I got a connection. Now go back to your parents Nue cub."

The monkey-faced cat creature turned around and walked off. The redhead followed, and so did the rest of her group.

"Wait!" Akane yelled, making them stop. "Who are you? And what the heck is that?"

The redhead looked to her, eyes still glowing. "It's better that you don't know." She then turned and left in a rush, the creature running now and them following.

"Alright, I've had enough." Akane said to herself, getting home and heading home at a more relaxed pace. 'At least it was a girl that helped me. A guy would use it as leverage and expect me to do something for him.'

* * *

"Akane, where were you?" Soun asked when his youngest daughter came home.

"Out for a jog, it... went weird." She said, not feeling like admitting what happened. "I just want a bath."

"It will have to wait. I've got news for the entire family."

Akane frowned. "No, that will have to wait. I'm taking my bath now."

Soun frowned. "Akane, dining room. Now." He used a little bit of his demon head technique to force her to comply, which she did, taking a seat next to Nabiki.

"So what's the big news?" Nabiki asked.

"An old friend of mine named Genma Saotome is going to be staying with us for a while, and so is his son, Ranma."

"A houseguest?" Kasumi asked.

"A boy?" Akane asked too.

"Is he cute?" Nabiki asked, the only one of the girls who sounded excited.

"I don't know. I've never met the boy." Soun admitted, not earning any favor from his children. "But I have been keeping touch with my friend for years. He and his son have been traveling all over the world learning various martial arts and facing many threats. You see, my friend and I were once students under the same master, and when he became fathers it was our dream to have our children get together to continue the legacy of this school."

"Wait, you're trying to set us up for an arranged marriage?" Akane asked, aghast.

"Akane's right Father. It's bad enough we know nothing about this boy, but for you to know nothing too? I question your rationality." Kasumi added.

"Girls, they are going to show up today whether you like it or not. At least be nice to them. Then we'll see how things go." Soun insisted.

'Something tells me he intends to force the whole marriage angle whether any of us like it or not. Well, I might as well see if the boy had anything of value before making up my mind.' Nabiki thought.

"Can I take my bath now?" Akane asked, not wanting to think about this too much.

"Sure Akane." Soun said with a nod.

Two hours later when the rain had stopped there was a knock at the door, and Kasumi went to answer it. "Hello."

"Is this the home of Soun Tendo?" A fat bald man in a white gi asked.

"It is, are you Mr. Saotome?"

"Yes. With my boys."

"Boys?" Kasumi repeated, confused, seeing two men behind the man. "Father only mentioned you having one son."

"I do have only one son. But I have more than one boy."

'That makes no sense. But at least one of them looks older than me.' Kasumi thought. "Well come on in then. I'll go get my father."

They followed her in, where they soon found Soun seated and reading a book. "Tendo!" Genma said happily.

Soun looked and smiled. "Ah Saotome, good to see you again old friend. And this must be Ranma." He said, looking to the tallest member of the group.

"Ee?" He asked, pointing at himself.

"Sorry, wrong guy. I'm Ranma." The shorter guy with a pigtail said. "This is my brother Fisk."

"Fisk? Is that a nickname?"

"Sort of."

"I didn't see you had pets." Kasumi said, noting a lizard and dog.

"They're not pets. They're family." Ranma told her. "This is Dragoon and that's Fu." He pointed to the lizard then the dog.

"Saotome, you never mentioned a second son." Soun said to Genma.

"It's... complicated old friend."

"Well hey there." Nabiki said in a friendly manner, seeing Ranma and currently liking what she saw. "So you're the boy we've heard so little about."

"Yeah that would be me. My name's Ranma. Yours?"

"Nabiki. I hear you've been all over the world."

Ranma nodded. "Yep, I've been to the Himalayas, England, Brazil, Indonesia, China and more."

'Not cheap to go to any of those. These guys definitely have money. Now to see if he's worth investing in.' Nabiki though, her interest peaked. "Interesting. I've often wanted to do some global traveling.

"Well maybe you-"

"No boy, you know we can't take company along on our trips." Genma told his son. "She couldn't handle what we do."

"Oh I can't can I?" Nabiki asked, sensing something was being kept from her.

Behind a corner in a hall, Akane was listening in. 'Weird, that boy... why does he seem so... different than the others? And why does he look and feel so familiar to me?'

"Hey Saotome, where's your wife?" Soun asked, remembering Nodoka and wondering why she wasn't here too.

"That's another long story old friend. Right now let's not waste time telling stories, at least not while sober."

Soun smiled. "That's the Genma Saotome I know. C'mon, I hope you still like the Nagano brand."

"My tastes have kind of changed from being abroad, but an old favorite would be appreciated." The fat man said, following his old friend to the kitchen.

Ranma, Fisk, Dragoon, and Fu all seemed to sigh in unison.

Kasumi went to her hiding sister. "You don't have to hide Akane. He's not going to bite you."

"I'm not worried about him biting me Kasumi." Akane said dryly, then looked back at the group. 'Wait, they look... it can't be.' Now that she was focusing on more than just Ranma she could see what she hadn't before. 'It is, it's the same group that got that thing off my back. That boy is even dressed and equipped like that girl. Are they twins?'

Ranma could sense someone was watching him and turned. "Who's there?"

Akane couldn't help herself, she hid again. Fu was the first one to get to her, and a closer look told her this was no ordinary dog. The face looked better suited to a lion than a dog, and it even had a bit of a mane it looked like, but the body was clearly that of a dog.

"Kasumi, what kind of dog is this?" She asked.

"He's a Chinese breed. You don't see many of them outside China." Ranma said, coming up and petting Fu. "Hi, I'm Ranma."

"Akane." She replied politely. "By any chance do you have a sister?"

"Not that I know of. Why?"

"I saw a girl earlier today that looked a lot like you and I swear she was with these companions of yours too."

"Wait, that was you?" Ranma asked.

"That was me? So your group was involved? What the heck was that thing chasing me?" Akane asked.

"You were chased Akane?" Kasumi asked.

"It's hard to explain." Ranma said.

"Hard to explain?" Akane repeated, starting to get mad. "Look mister, I have not had a good day today. I've been chased by a wild animal thru the rain, been told my sisters and I might be engaged to some boy we know absolutely nothing about, and now that you're here you refuse to tell me what this is all about? I don't care how hard it is to explain I want to know everything!"

Ranma shrugged. "Alright then. Better get comfortable and no screaming."

Ranma leaned against a wall in the room, with Akane and Kasumi joining Nabiki back inside. "I'm not one for long explanations, so I'll make it short. Do any of you know what a cryptid is?"

Akane had no idea and shook her head, Kasumi tried to think it over since she felt she should know this. Nabiki was the one to speak up. "Yeah, it's connected to cryptozoology, the study of creatures that are debated to be real or fictional in that there's no concrete proof of the existence or absence of. A cryptid is an animal, or any organism for that matter, that currently is unknown to standard science. The most famous example being the Loch Ness Monster of Scotland."

"Ah yes, Nessie. She's a good one. Remember her Fisk?" The pigtailed young man said to the other male in the room who nodded. Dragoon chirped like a lizard and Fu barked as if in approval.

Nabiki arched an eyebrow. "So what's this about?"

"Wait, you're saying that creature that was after me this morning was one of these mystery animals?" Akane asked.

"It was a Nue, I'm sure you've heard of them before."

"Nue? The Japanese chimera? Those aren't real." Nabiki said.

"Oh trust me they're real. And your sister was being chased by a young one this morning." Ranma said, turning to Akane. "Did you do anything to the Nue to make it angry?"

"Hey I was being chased! Don't make _me_ sound like the bad guy here!" Akane stated.

"It was a cub, alone and probably just starting to learn how to hunt on its own. It wouldn't try to attack a human unless provoked. So did you provoke it?"

"I thought I saw a cat trying to get to a birds nest. I threw a rock to make it stop. How was I supposed to know it was a monster?" Akane justified.

Ranma frowned, and Fisk looked hurt. "Cryptids are not monsters. They're not mutants, demons, aliens, or anything like that. They're just not well understood."

"You speak like you spend a lot of time with them." Kasumi said.

"I do. In fact, it's actually why I've been traveling so much. You see, the Saotomes are cryptid experts. We make it our mission to protect them from people and vice versa."

"So you're the Animal Welfare Society for the mythological?" Akane asked.

"Actually that's a pretty good way to put it." Ranma said.

"Hold on, I want proof mister. Show me a cryptid." Nabiki stated.

"Got any hot water?" Ranma asked. "That way I can show you one."

"I'll get some. How hot?"

"Warm but not burning."

Kasumi nodded then left.

"While we're waiting, Fu and Dragoon are two cryptids. Fu is a lion-dog." Ranma started.

"Wait, you mean like those statues you see at shrines?" Akane interrupted. Fu barked as if to say yes.

"Yes, and Dragoon is a drakon. Think of that as a lesser dragon." Ranma continued, and Dragoon hissed and even unveiled a hidden frill, surprising the girls. "You're better than a dragon anyway Dragoon." He added to pacify the reptile.

"Are you a cryptid?" Nabiki asked.

"No, I'm human. Not many cryptids can pass off being human without complex disguises. Fisk here is lucky that way." Ranma answered.

"What do you mean?" Both Nabiki and Akane asked, just as Kasumi returned with a glass of warm water. Fisk held out his hand and she gave it to him, and he dunked his other hand into it. All three girls were amazed to see the tall thin man transform into something resembling a sasquatch.

"What the heck is he?" Akane asked, a little afraid now. Even Kasumi had backed away.

"We don't really know what kind of cryptid he is. He was once called the Fiskerton Phantom, back in a small town in England, so we call him Fisk or Fiskerton. Pops said his DNA appears to be half primate and half feline, but nothing he can really identify." Ranma explained, and Fisk waved at the girls to help them feel less uncomfortable.

"And turning into a human is normal for him?" Nabiki asked.

"Not quite. On our last trip in China to get some people away from a Qilin habitat we stopped by a training ground called Jusenkyo. This is sort of like the location version of a cryptid, I don't know the actual name for that. Anyway, this place is cursed, causing transformations to anyone who gets wet there. Fisk got a curse that makes him look like a human male when he gets wet. I... got the opposite." Ranma explained.

"What, you turn into one of these when you get wet?" Akane asked.

"Not quite. That girl you saw earlier, that was me." He admitted.

"You?" Akane repeated, confused. "Wait, when you say the opposite, you mean like how he turns into a human male you turn into a human female?" She asked, pointing first to Fisk then to Ranma.

Ranma nodded. "Yes. I'm hoping we can find a way to get this cured, but we don't really know that much about unknown places. Just unknown creatures."

"So let me get this straight. You and your family travel the world, somehow, all to help these odd organisms, and in the process you got genuine curses?" Nabiki asked, and everyone in Ranma's group nodded. "Well, this is a lot to take in. But I want to know if Dad knew about this."

Akane nodded. "Yeah, I mean it's one thing to not tell us about an arranged fiancee until now, it's another to leave out that said fiancee is some kind of creature collector."

"Hey I don't collect cryptids. These guys are my family." Ranma defended. "The guys who _do_ try to collect cryptids are real jerks."

"Still, I hope you'll understand that none of us are exactly eager to be a part of this plan our dads have." Nabiki told him.

Ranma nodded. "No problem. I wasn't exactly thrilled to find out about this either."

"By the way, what did you do with that Nue? And how did you get rid of it?" Akane asked.

"The how is my personal secret. As for the what, I told you it was a cub. I just returned it to its mother." He answered. Just then, Fu perked up and started to growl. "What's wrong boy?"

The loud sound of a growl was heard from the yard.

"I think something's here." Kasumi said.

Ranma grabbed his clawed staff and went to the back door, followed by his group. Scratching at the door could be heard, not unlike a hungry stray cat, but this was much bigger than a stray. Ranma's eyes glowed jade, but none of the girls could see it.

"Akane, the mother is here, and she's not happy you hurt her cub."

"But how could a monster even find me?" Akane asked.

"Scent. How else? And it's not a monster." He answered. "But it is in a bad mood. I'm struggling just to keep it from breaking down this house."

"What are you doing? You're talking like you're somehow controlling whatever is out there." Akane asked.

"I am. And it's not wanting to go away." He answered, sounding like he was struggling.

Akane frowned. "Now you can control these things? That's it, this is just too crazy. This has to be some kind of stunt or something to jerk us around." With that she went to the back to see for herself what was going on.

"Akane don't!" Kasumi called out, but to no avail. Akane opened the screen door connecting the house to the backyard, and went pale. There was a Nue just like the one she had seen before, only twice the size of an African lion and lacking a mane giving it a lioness look here.

"This has to be some kind of a fake." She said mostly to convince herself but she didn't sound convincing. Then the Nue roared at her, making her hair get cartoonishly straight and swiped at her. She jumped back but it did tear right thru her clothes, essentially stripping her to tatters and her underwear.

"Alright alright, just get rid of it!" She shrieked, inadvertently giving Ranma a glimpse of her unmentionables.

Ranma went up to the adult Nue, eyes still glowing. "You have your cub and it's safe now. But if you stay here too long your Shroud won't work. You're too big to hide in here. Take your cub back to your den before more people find it and you. As powerful as you are, you can't fight off an entire city of angry humans. So please, for the good of your cub, go home."

The Nue growled, but this time it didn't sound angry. And a moment later it turned away and started to walk off, the young Nue Akane had hurt earlier next to it.

Ranma's eyes stopped glowing and he looked to the girls. "It's alright, you're safe now."

"How did you do that?" Nabiki asked, in awe of what she just saw. 'This guy has power, that is such a turn on.'

Genma came out. "Did something happen boy?"

"Yeah, just an angry mother Nue. She's gone now." He answered.

Soun was surprised by the appearance of the other cryptids in the house. But he wasn't panicked. "Saotome, I don't think my house or the neighborhood is a good place to be having cryptids running around."

"Wait Dad, you know about these things?" Akane asked.

"I told you girls that Saotome and I go way back. You didn't think martial arts was the only think we did when we were younger did you?"

"No, but no one would think 'old friend' would also mean 'creature expert'." Akane rebuttled.

"They're called cryptids. Crypt-tids. It's not that hard to remember." Ranma corrected. "And they're family, so if they're not welcome neither am I. Speaking of which, why am I here to begin with?"

"I already told you boy." Genma stated.

"I want to hear it from him." The teen boy told his father, pointing to the other man in the room.

Soun cleared his throat. "Well son, it's as your father said. He and his wife along with me and my wife came up with the idea that when our children were old enough they would wed and inherit this dojo. Ensuring the legacy of our school would continue for another generation."

Ranma did not look convinced. "So you're saying you think if we don't marry the legacy dies with us?"

"What?" Soun asked, thrown off.

"You said me marrying one of them will 'ensure the legacy of our school', as if somehow any alternative can't get the same result. Besides, what legacy are you talking about?" Ranma asked.

"Boy how dare you question us?" Genma said, not liking how his son was trying to poke holes in his intentions. Ranma tended to do that a lot and it really got Genma irritated.

"I dare because you make a lot of stupid decisions and I'm not going to get caught up in any if I can help it." Ranma argued.

"This is not a stupid decision." Genma proclaimed.

"Of course it isn't." Soun added.

"Then you won't have a problem explaining why you made it and didn't once bother saying a word about it until today." Ranma replied.

"Eez aite." Fisk commented.

"This is none of your concern Fisk." Genma told the cryptid.

"Ranma, how about you and my girls go to another room and talk amongst yourselves for a bit?" Soun suggested. "Maybe you'll feel better then."

'More like you're hoping I'll pick a fiancee after just one conversation.' Ranma snidely thought. "Alright, but no eavesdropping. Dragoon, Fu, I'm counting on you two to stop them." A chirp and a bark were his responses.

'Can I get a new day already? This one's broken.' Akane thought to herself.

If she only knew what was going to happen to and for her in the days to come.


	2. Chapter 2

The best room for Ranma and the three Tendo daughters to talk in was the dojo itself. It was the one with the most room and had the best sound-proofing done to it so the noises of martial arts training and combat wouldn't disrupt the rest of the household. Of course it had been ages since any classes had been held so they couldn't say for certain what the integrity of the sound-proofing was anymore.

"I know your old man wanted us to talk, but I can't." Ranma started. "I need to make sure the Nue can get out of the city safely."

"Hey, those things got here on their own they can get home on their own." Akane insisted.

"Did they? Were you there?" Ranma asked. "How often do you see something like a bear just wandering into Tokyo from the mountains? And get in this deep without being spotted? I don't think the Nue came here voluntarily."

"Then who brought them?" Kasumi asked.

"I don't know. But my concern is getting them back to a human-free area." He stated.

"Then why did you tell them to leave on their own?" Akane asked.

"Honestly, that was to get the mother to calm down, and give them a chance to get somewhere they might have been hiding. Someone brought them here, but I don't think that someone still has any control over them. They were probably hiding, like stray cats, and you just provoked them when they were already on nerves."

"Hey! Stop making me sound like the bad guy here!" Akane yelled.

"It was a young hungry kitten that was trying to get food and you threw a rock at it. That kind of is a bad guy move there." Ranma criticized. "Though standing up to the mother wasn't. I'm not going to fault you on that."

"How was I supposed to know what it was? It was huge and unfamiliar and-"

"And it wasn't doing anything wrong." Ranma interjected. "Cats eat birds, that's nature. Even cryptid nature. Do you stop birds from eating worms just because you can't identify the bird?"

"Let's change the subject please." Nabiki requested. "We know what you do, but nothing else. What do you like, dislike, do when you're relaxing. That sort of thing."

"Why?"

"Well, odds are you're going to be here for a while, and our dad is not going to let you leave this room without picking one of us as a fiancee. Might as well at least try to find some compatibility." Nabiki asked.

Ranma frowned in annoyance. "Why bother? None of us want this. And whether or not your old man likes that honestly could not matter less to me."

"Ranma, that's not nice to say." Kasumi chided.

"Would you rather I lie and say it meant everything to me?" He asked. To which he got no answer, and he expected none to begin with.

"So what's the solution? Just say 'screw you' to them both and that's it?" Akane asked.

"Well the only alternative is being engaged and that is simply not an option." The pigtailed boy answered.

"Why are you so against it anyway?" Nabiki asked.

"Before I answer that, I want to hear you all explain why none of you haven't exactly jumped at being engaged." He replied.

Once again he got no answer and expected none. But it had the desired effect. The girls couldn't say it was wrong for him to protest the engagement when none of them were making an effort to encourage it.

"I rest my case." He stated. "You don't want it, I don't want it, the only ones who do want this to happen are the ones who don't have to actually do any of the work involved. And frankly, I'm not convinced they don't have some ulterior motive for this. Let's just say Pops isn't above trying to make money off of cryptids when he can."

"How do you make money off of cryptids?" Nabiki asked, very curious now.

"For one thing, he's got a living golden goose stashed away. Helps with expenses if nothing else, though how he can sell the eggs repeatedly without it being noticed is something I don't understand." Ranma answered.

"Wait, let me get this straight. A literal, living and breathing, goose that lays genuine golden eggs? And your family has one as a pet?" Nabiki asked, wearing she was on the verge of a joygasm there. She was certainly warming up to the idea of being his fiancee despite the curse and occasional cryptid that came with him.

"I don't think of them as a pet, namely my old man's captive. But yeah, we have one. Most of our money comes from my mom." He answered.

"Where is she by the way?" Kasumi asked.

"Taking care of the goose and a few of the orphaned cryptids we've found in our travels. Mom's not as big a fan of traveling as Pop and I are." He answered.

"Wait, then why don't you guys go live with her?" Akane asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Ranma asked. "He wants me here with you guys, and obviously Mom's in on it." He crossed his arms and leaning against the wall, showing he wasn't too happy with this.

"So then, the fact is despite how... forced this situation is, we can't ignore it for long." Nabiki analyzed. "Being upset about it is normal, but pissing and moaning isn't going to solve anything. We can either act like kids screaming no they don't want to go to bed, or be adults about it and at least try to make the best of a bad situation."

"And how do we do that?" Ranma asked.

"The best option I can think of is we go ahead and decide which one of us will be your fiancee, but we tell our fathers we have some stipulations of our own." The mercenary stated. "This way we can get them to avoid pressuring us into sealing the deal anytime soon, and if we need a way out in the future we can still get it."

"Well then why bother getting into the deal in the first place if you want a way out?" Ranma asked.

"For one, like you I get the feeling those two have a reason for wanting this beyond mere family honor. If that was truly the only reason they wouldn't have waited until today to tell us about it." Nabiki theorized. "If we resist the idea they won't take it well, and we can't say for certain they won't resort to force or dirty tactics to control us. Sure, I believe with absolute certainty I can thwart them, but that's not the issue I'm concerned about."

Akane and Kasumi listened in, wondering what could get their ice queen sibling concerned.

"I don't believe they intend something bad for us. But I do believe they have an ulterior motive for trying to get us set up now. Problem is I have no idea what that motive is. And that means we can't prepare against it. Therefore, the best thing to do is go along with them and let them think they're getting what they want, so then we can get more information on their intentions. And once we do know what they're aiming for, we can decide what to do about it." Nabiki stated.

"Or we could go with my idea of telling them to take their promise and shove it up their-" Ranma started.

"Ranma, language!" Kasumi cut off.

"Well why not do that? None of you actually want to be with me." He pointed out.

"Actually Ranma, we were never asked if we wanted that." Kasumi countered. "All this time we've been talking like disinterest is a given. Like any alternative is simply not an option."

Ranma sighed. "Look, I'm going to be honest but blunt. I don't _want_ to be involved in this. Not even slightly, not even just for show. I _don't_ care, I don't see why I should _have_ to care, nothing anyone says is going to _make_ me care, so just do us all a favor and _let_ me not care."

"Do you got a problem with us?" Akane asked. For reasons she couldn't fathom, being rejected by him was hurting her.

"We're all thinking the same thing, I'm just the one admitting it." Ranma told her. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go see about the Nue."

Refusing to even give them a chance to stop them, he left the dojo and then the estate entirely.

"What the hell is his problem?" Akane asked, bothered by his attitude.

"Akane, the situation is just as stressful to him as it is to us." Kasumi told her.

"He doesn't have to be a jerk about it though." The youngest sister there replied.

"Look on the bright side, he's not one of the boys hounding you each morning." Nabiki pointed out.

Akane shuddered. "Just what I need, one of those guys living here."

"You know, maybe if you told the boys you had a fiancee they'd stop." Nabiki asked. "You'd have to show some affection to Ranma though for it to really convince them though."

"Sorry, I'm just not ready for a relationship, even a fake one just to get rid of others." Akane admitted. 'Though that doesn't mean the idea is invalid.'

Nabiki nodded in understanding. "Alright, well, Dad's going to insist someone here accept the role, so I think I will for now."

"Really?" Akane and Kasumi asked, not expecting this.

"Yeah, of all of us I can at least convince Dad to delay any actual marriage, so that will give us all some time to actually learn about Ranma and him time to calm down and loosen up around us. Plus he seems to be a global traveler with some good money to his name, and that's certainly a plus to me."

"So you're willing to handle a jerk with a curse and strange animals hanging around him all so you could get a shot at those golden eggs he mentioned?" Akane asked, not sure why she didn't like this. She didn't want to be with Ranma, but her sister being with him for some reason wasn't anymore appealing.

"Do either of you want to handle him instead? Just say so." Nabiki offered, and got exactly what she anticipated. Nothing.

'He's too young for my liking. I'm sure I'd get bored of him soon enough.' Kasumi told herself.

'Maybe his bad attitude is just him not knowing how else to react, but it's a bad first impression. Well, technically second. But that boy is too confusing for me. I'm sure he wouldn't take advantage of me like Kuno would if he could, but I don't know what he would do if he had to be engaged to me. Not to mention if I have to be convincing that I want him right away he's bound to be more of a jerk just to keep distance from me. Nabiki's suggestion for me just wouldn't work.' Akane thought.

"Well then, I'll take the role for now. But until a ring's on my finger, it's not going to be permanent." Nabiki said, ending the discussion and getting up. "I'll go tell dad about my stipulations. Let me know when Ranma comes back."

Akane looked outside. "I wonder what he's doing."

* * *

Thanks to a lifetime of being taught to search for creatures that literally no one else could, Ranma knew that finding the Nue would be easy for him. The problem was it had apparently gotten a greater head start than he thought it had.

'Maybe I should have left with it from the very start.' He bemoaned, partially regretting that he chose to prioritize the meeting with the Tendos first. 'I thought the kitten would just return to its mother, which it did do, but how was I supposed to know the mother was here too? That's one heck of a Shroud to remain hidden here.'

The Shroud was a cryptid's best defense, and the main reason humans couldn't find them on a regular basis. What made cryptids different than other organisms was that they possessed a unique kind of biological energy called Arcana, similar to how humans had ki. Some cryptids were able to use it like how humans could use ki if trained, but for the most part they used it just to remain hidden. This ability was known as the Shroud, like a haze that blinded normal people to them. Nothing like invisibility, not in most cases as some cryptids could in fact become invisible, but more of a mere way to make people not pay attention to them.

But Ranma was a bit different than other people, in more way than one. One such difference was that while normal people were completely blind to arcana, thus why it helped blind them to cryptids, it was very obvious to him. It hadn't always been, but over the years he had learned how to hone his senses to perceive arcana, similar to how Genma could perceive the ki of martial artists. That was something else Ranma knew how to do, but sensing arcana was what he needed at the moment.

And of course he was trying to sense the arcana of the Nue, certain they couldn't have gotten too far in a heavily populated area by now. But the weird thing was... he couldn't.

"Where did they go?" He asked, pausing for a moment atop a roof in case he had missed it. That had to be the case, somehow he missed it. "If Fu was here he could track the scent. But I'm on my own. And I know I can find a Nue mother and cub on my own."

He closed his eyes and tried to sense any form of arcana in the area. And again he could sense none, not even that of other possible cryptids that could be in the area. That could only mean one thing.

"Someone did bring the Nue into this town. And now that someone has reacquired them." Ranma said to himself. "That means I'm looking for the wrong thing."

Since his natural senses were going to be of no use to him now, Ranma reached into his pocket and pulled out something else that would hopefully do the trick. A collapsible pair of goggles that looked like some kind of attempt at futuristic sunglasses. Putting them on he tapped a small red circled on the left side, making the shades turn purple. Now he could look for something other than arcana.

The energy of cryptids rarely leaves a trail, often decaying too quickly to be picked up by something that would hunt a cryptid by detecting arcana. Similar to how a scent trail weakens over time, only faster. However, this was not true of the shroud. That extra defense of the organisms did result in an energy trail, and now Ranma could see it.

'Aha, I see where you went.' He told himself, locating a wandering path that suddenly stopped then took a sharp turn in another direction. 'Now the only thing to do is see who wanted the Nue and why.' He wasted no time in following the trail.

* * *

'Wow, they took the Nue all the way out here?' Ranma asked, finally reaching his destination when the sun was going down. It was already late when he had arrived at the Tendos so he didn't go far, he just wasn't expecting someplace as cliche as an empty warehouse district.

'The mother and cub should be around here. I can sense the arcana now inside one of these buildings. It's just hard to tell which-wait, someone's out here.' He thought as he surveyed the area atop a roof, then crouched down when he saw someone. It looked like a normal albeit somewhat grim-looking person that arrived in a car, then got out and did the oddest thing. He touched it and suddenly his skin and clothes became green and metallic, just like the car itself.

'What the heck was that? Is that guy some kind of new cryptid that can impersonate a human?' Ranma thought as the metal man turned a corner, thus couldn't be seen anymore. 'I better get a closer look at this.'

By closer look he went get into position then jump down and catch the enemy quickly and off guard like a predator, and that's exactly what he did. The young boy jumped from one roof to the next until he was behind the metal man, who was looking into a window. Then Ranma took out his personal weapon which was a clawed staff he carried with him everywhere, and hit a button that made the claw part shoot out attached by a tether so he could attack from a distance.

The metal man by this point had turned around, apparently satisfied with whatever he had seen, and returned to normal flesh. At that point the claw had grabbed the front of his shirt, grabbing tightly.

"What the heck?" He said. Shortly after Ranma whipped the tether so it would wrap around the metal man, holding him captive for a bit while Ranma himself jumped down to face him.

"Let's see what you are." Ranma said before his eyes glowed jade. A moment later that stopped and he looked confused. "You're... you're human?"

"What did you think I was? A chimpanzee?" The caught guy asked.

"Humans don't become metal. So what are you?" Ranma asked. "For that matter, you're not Japanese. You look American yet speak with a local accent. Who are you?"

The strange teen, who looked maybe a year older than Ranma but it was hard to say for certain, frowned but didn't seem concerned about getting free. He did grab the tether, but did nothing else. "That's none of your business." His hand then arm started turning a dark grey, absorbing the material of the tether which was a type of metal making it like a thick wire rather than a rubber cable.

Then he did something really unexpected. His metal hand morphed, the fingers fusing together and even sharpening, like he was turning his own limb into a sword. With the sword hand he swiped at the tether, severing it and freeing himself.

"You wrecked my Claw." Ranma grimaced, his eyes lightly glowing orange again. "That was not smart."

The other boy pulled the rest of the tether off and dropped it, then touched the car and reabsorbed some metal until he was fully metallic. "Neither was trying to fight me." He morphed both metal hands into what looked like hammers.

As a martial artist and someone who dealt with cryptids all the time, Ranma hardly ever was afraid of a fight. So while he had no idea how he was going to defeat a guy like this, he was going to find out the hard way. He lunged at the metal man, fists and staff weapon ready, and was blocked by the hammers of his opponent. It hurt, but no bones were broken.

The metal man made a swing at Ranma, who ducked under and tried to shove him from a lower angle, thus disrupting his balance and hopefully toppling him. It unfortunately didn't work. The metal man then hit Ranma in the back, making him collapse to the ground but not black out.

"Whatever you and those guys are doing, leave me out of it." The metal man warned.

"Heh, my brother fights better than you." Ranma taunted. Fisk was Ranma's favorite sparring partner because unlike Genma the cryptid was harder to hit but just as able to use the environment to his advantage. Fisk at first had been reluctant to participate, but it was impossible to spend years with a Saotome without learning a thing or two about fighting. And Ranma couldn't spend time with anything or anyone without getting inspiration on how to be a better martial artist.

Getting on all fours since he was already down, Ranma did a sweep kick at the metal man's legs. This time he did succeed in unbalancing his opponent who fell down with a loud clang against the pavement. Ranma took the chance to reacquire the severed portion of his weapon so he wouldn't forget it later, then stood above the metal man stepping on him and pressing the end of his staff against the neck.

"I've fought against creatures you only see in movies. Granted you're a new one, but you never stood a chance." Ranma claimed.

"Neither did you." A new voice said, then suddenly Ranma was struck by some kind of pink energy beam like a laser from behind, making him jerk for a moment then fall to his knees.

The metal man tried to get up but he was hit by the same laser. And then both boys were surrounded by red energy that made them hover in the air, completely unable to fight back effectively.

"This is a nice surprise. Welcome back, Kevin." A man's voice said in English.

* * *

"Something wrong Akane?" Kasumi asked, seeing her youngest sister slumped on the walkway connecting the house to the dojo just staring at the koi pond.

"Nothing really, just wondering how we're going to handle living with a boy like Ranma." She muttered.

"Nabiki already talked to Father about it. Things will be fine." Kasumi reassured.

"How can we know that? We don't know anything about that boy." Akane insisted.

"That doesn't mean he's a bad person Akane." Kasumi told her. "You can never know everything about a person within the first hour you meet them. Remember when you first met your own friends? Did you know everything about them right away? No, but that didn't stop you from getting along with them did it?"

Akane shook her head. "But this is different. It's a boy living with us."

"And why does that bother you?" Kasumi gently asked.

"It's a complete stranger moving in with us and he's bringing in more than we were told would come. Are you not bothered by this?"

"Of course I am." Kasumi admitted. "But I'm going to make the best of this and not tell them to go away just because this disrupts things. Akane, I understand your concerns, but I think you're just being a bit paranoid."

"Well I did get attacked by a creature we all thought didn't exist. I think I'm allowed to be a bit paranoid." The tomboy claimed.

"Alright. Just try to make Ranma feel welcome, and I'm sure he'll be respectful, even if a bit distant. I get the feeling he's not used to being around people his own age that much. He's probably just as uncomfortable about all this as you are." The housekeeper said, then walked away.

Akane leaned back, enjoying the sounds of the early evening. 'Maybe she's right. If Ranma's been traveling the world dealing with strange monsters all the time and calling them family, he likely has few if any human friends.'

At that moment Fu the lion-dog came up to her, spooking her a bit. It whined a bit and looked like it just wanted to be petted. Cautious, Akane complied and the lion-dog relaxed, and so Akane did the same. 'Heh, maybe I am just being paranoid. There's no reason I can't try to get along with him. Besides, he's not going to marry me. There's no need to push him aside.'

Dragoon walked up to her too from the other side, and Akane tried to pet the little reptile too. It leaned towards her hand and encouraged her to scratch it gently instead, which she did.

"Do you want anything Akane?" Kasumi called out, putting away the remnants of dinner for Ranma and doublechecking to make sure her own family was satisfied.

"Maybe some lemonade?" The young girl requested.

Almost right away Dragoon darted away from her and took to the air, flying into the house. Akane called out to the drakon but it didn't come back. Even weirder, moments later it flew back out, holding a glass containing a yellow liquid and put it next to her.

"Whoa, you brought it to me?" She asked, surprised and taking it tentatively. She sniffed it to make sure it really was lemonade, and was convinced it was. Then she tasted it, confirming the nature of the liquid. "Thanks. Didn't think that Ranma had trained you so well."

* * *

Meanwhile, Ranma woke up on a cold metal table, strapped down so the only thing that could move would be his eyes and mouth. But his eyes stung immediately thanks to a bright light hanging directly over him, so he closed them again.

'Where am I? What's going on?' He asked.

"Let me out of here!" The metal man shouted.

"Calm down Kevin. You're right where you belong." One of the unidentified voices from earlier said in response, this time in Japanese instead of English.

'They don't seem to be paying attention to me. But I better keep my eyes closed just in case.' Ranma thought, trying to listen in.

"How do you know me?" The guy called Kevin asked.

"You've forgotten me? I'm Servantis, your old mentor and benefactor before those inferior parents of yours decided to deport you. They covered their tracks well enough that I had no way to find you and pretty much gave up. Now you just appear to me all by yourself and here of all places. Surely even you must realize this is a sign."

'Is the Nue still around?' Ranma asked, remembering why he originally came here in the first place and trying to sense any close arcana. 'Yes, both mother and cub are here, most likely caged up and being subdued to keep them in line. Are these guys cryptid poachers?'

"I see our other guest is awake, but badly pretending not to be." The guy called Servantis said, making Ranma stop all activity. "He seems like any other normal human. Makes me wonder Kevin how you could have wasted so much potential that you nearly got beaten by him before we heard your little scuffle outside."

"What makes you think I was fighting him at full strength in the first place?" The one called Kevin asked. "Maybe I didn't want to hurt the guy too much."

"Then you truly are wasting your potential. The Kevin I knew would never waste time thinking about if he was hurting someone else." Servantis chewed out.

"Yeah well I've grown up since then. And the name's Ken now Jarhead."

"Regardless, now that I have you achieving my main goal for being in this country will be so much easier and sweeter. I might not even need those strange creatures anymore. Though using their DNA does hold potential."

Ranma frowned. 'I don't care who you are, you do not treat cryptids like lab mice.' He opened his eyes but looked away from the light, seeing he was inside a warehouse and by a wall where the two Nue in a cage, looking like they had given up trying to escape, not unlike zoo animals. Ranma's eyes glowed jade as he looked at them.

Suddenly the cryptid cub got up and walked to the door. But rather than do what a normal animal would do, it moved with a human intelligence this time, squeezing its paws thru the bars and reaching for the lock, using the same bars for balance to better reach. Carefully tampering with the lock, which was difficult with feline paws, it soon succeeded in unlocking it, and the door swung open.

Ranma smirked and the two Nue growled, the mother following the cub outside the cage.

"What the heck?" Servantis asked once he saw this.

The mother charged at him, and a few inhuman associates of Servantis tried to defend him, including a hot pink female being that flew and shot lasers out of her green eyes. Ranma left the mother to fight them off, focusing on directing the cub to break the straps binding him down.

At the same time the boy called Kevin or Ken, Ranma wasn't particularly interested in that part, absorbed the metal of the table he was on and now was strong enough to break his own bindings. But rather than fight, he decided this situation was too much for him and ran off, unnoticed in the commotion.

Now freed as well, Ranma stood by the Nue cub, after grabbing his broken weapon by the wall. "We need to get you guys home. Stay here with your mother, I'll get some help." He then went outside and pulled out a phone, dialing a number. "I need a pick-up and I need it now. I got a captured mother Nue and cub, brought here by possible poachers I chased off." He paused for a moment so the person on the other end could respond. "Thanks, I'll be here." He then hung up.

* * *

"What took you so long?" Akane asked when Ranma finally showed up at the house, long after sunset and after dinner.

"Had to call in a transport crew so the Nue would be taken home safely." He answered. "Did you think I'd just ditch them after finding them?"

"A transport crew?" Akane repeated.

"I'll explain later, right now I just want to relax for the night." He said.

"Before you get too comfortable, I should mention that Nabiki decided she'll fit the role of fiancee for the time being." Akane said, feeling it was better to get it out now rather than later.

Ranma frowned. "Then she and I are going to have some words over this." His tone showed this wasn't going to be a friendly talk.

'Good luck with that.' Akane thought, seeing him walk towards the stairs and presumably the middle sister's room.


	3. Chapter 3

After that rough first day at the house, it became quite apparent to all of the young residences that Ranma wasn't going anywhere, whether he liked it or not. And he had certainly tried. Ranma had acted like being forced to stay at the Tendo house was a punishment to something.

This was naturally not earning him any points with the residents. Kasumi was being as polite as ever, giving him his space and not really making an effort to speak to him except to ask questions if she had to. Nabiki had only really spoken to him just once, to tell him she was his fiancee, and they actually hadn't said a word since. They barely even looked at each other except during meal time.

Akane, she was the most bothered by him. Ranma's attitude was just part of the problem, what really irked her was the fact that him being there really threw off her standard for normal. For one, there was a boy living where there was no boy before. Not just any boy, but a boy that didn't gush over her. While Akane was no fan of the Hentai Horde, she was certainly not used to a boy who acted like he couldn't stand being around her. And as the youngest of her family, she wasn't used to being ignored in her own home either. For another thing, he brought with him creatures that weren't supposed to exist, and acted like he was more comfortable around them than his own species.

That meant Ranma was not going to like what Genma had planned for him a few days after their arrival.

"School? What the hell? Since when has public education ever been a good idea to you?" Ranma said one morning.

"You need social skills my boy. You can't spend your entire life talking to cryptids. There will come times you have to deal with humans too."

"Since when have you ever wanted be to spend time with other humans? I know more about Bigfoot then I do my own kind thanks to you."

"And now it's time for that to change. I enrolled you in the local high school that Tendo's daughters go to. Now, I know that Nabiki is your fiancee-"

"Not if I have anything to say about it you pile of akaname food." Ranma cut off.

Genma snorted. "Despite that you'll have to be in the same class as Akane."

Said girl showed up in her blue school uniform. "She already left, so I'm the one who's going to show you how to get there."

"You're both assuming I actually intend to go." Ranma said defiantly.

"You know, I did hear that there was a recent surge of injury at the school that can't be identified. Could be a cryptid infestation there." Genma added.

Ranma rolled his eyes. "Oh, how convenient."

"Those things in my school? Are you crazy?" Akane asked. "There's no crypt kids or whatever there, just some wasp nest that the custodians can't find yet."

"You should take a look at it boy since you're already enrolled anyway." Genma insisted.

"You take a look at it, I'm not going. I don't need any damn school. You taught me to work with cryptids, what else do I need to learn?" Ranma claimed, crossing his arms and looking like he dared anyone to make him leave his spot.

Akane frowned. "Well, I'm not going to be late because of you. Have fun with your monsters."

Ranma gave her a dirty look, tempted to throw one of his chopsticks at her as a sign of defiance, but he withheld his hand. Such a gesture was uncalled for and unneeded.

Genma stood up and looked ready to throw something at his son however. "Boy, I'm not giving you a choice in this."

"What a shock, you given me_ so_ many choices in other things." Ranma said with heavy sarcasm rolling his eyes.

"I'll drag you there myself if you don't go voluntarily boy." Genma threatened.

Ranma clenched a fist. "Go ahead and try old man."

* * *

"Just what the hell is that boy's problem?" Akane fumed as she walked off by herself, going over a bridge and walking by the fenced-off canal. "He's invites himself into my house and brings in a bunch of monsters, and is nothing but rude to all of us. And he has the nerve to act like _we're_ in _his_ way?"

She paused for a huff. "Right now the only good thing about him is he's not acting like a pervert. And yet even _that_ bothers me. He's either biding his time, waiting to assault me when he thinks my guard is down, or thinks I'm not attractive enough to bother trying to assault. That last one is the one that bothers me the most."

As much as Akane disliked perverts, she wasn't exactly fond of being considered unsexy instead. A bit of a double standard, she even admitted to that, but it wasn't uncommon among the girls she knew to want to be seen as sexy while at the same time not harassed because of it.

Eventually she reached the gates of Furinkan, where a large group of perverts ready to harass her were waiting, striking even before they saw the whites of her eyes. Akane was only mildly grateful they were doing this today, for it gave her an outlet to her frustration about the guest in her house who made himself as unwelcome as he felt.

The boys came at her and she met them all with fists and kicks, pummeling them soundly until they were unable to be vertical on their own. She didn't stop until she was certain each of them was down for the count.

"Splendid performance as always Akane Tendo." Kuno, the creator of the Hentai Horde, said praisingly as he stepped into view. He always did this, despite being the one who most wanted to win against her he never once attacked her first, preferring to wait until after the group of lesser men had worn her down.

"Up yours Kuno." Akane said, annoyed.

"Tis time to fight my tigress, and to the winner a date with the fallen." Kuno said, clearly stating that win or lose he'd get what he wanted.

Unfortunately for him Akane wasn't too naive to fall for a 'heads I win tails you lose' scenario. So rather than respond, she simply ran up to him and kicked him in the face like she was aiming for the back of his head. He collapsed and she went inside.

"It's sad how your sister has to keep putting up with this." A girl said to Nabiki, both having watched this from their classroom.

"No, what's sad is that despite all the effort to stop this morning ritual it's still going on." Nabiki commented. 'Ranma wasn't with her. Is he actually skipping school on his first day, or did Akane not bother showing him the way here?'

"What effort? Nobody's done anything." The girl replied.

Nabiki shook her head. "No, nobody has done anything that's had any effect. There's a difference."

"What has been done?"

"Think about it, a bunch of boys are assaulting a girl each morning in clear view of everyone with the intention of making her do something for them. Any idiot could see this is a sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen, so of course the school would cover its ass to make sure it can't be held responsible. Suspensions and detentions aplenty have been given to these boys, along with black marks on the records work to those positively identified, and even a few taken out of Akane's class and transferred to others. And of course the parents have all been sent notices so they can do something about the kids at home."

"Then shouldn't someone have been able to stop this by now?" The girl asked, surprised that the schoolboard hadn't been as inactive as it appeared.

"That's the bad part. For reasons that confound me, none of the boys take the hint and stop. And I think at some point the schoolboard gave up and just let it continue. I'm surprised none of the parents have pressed subpoenas yet, claiming the school is unsafe for their daughters. They can't all defend themselves as well as Akane does."

"Well, with how things have been going, for a while I started thinking maybe someone was forcing everyone to let this continue."

Nabiki rolled her eyes. "I'm sure there's no mind control involved here. Just a combination of stupidity and futility."

* * *

Akane's day was so far so good, but she got a shock when lunchtime came and she went outside. Her friends Yuka and Sayuri told her to go on ahead, because both had forgotten their lunches and had to go buy some from the school itself, while Akane had one from Kasumi.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, going up to Ranma who happened to be talking to some students and in his girl form.

Ranma looked to her. "Don't get the wrong idea, I have no intention of being a student here. It's be a waste of time. But if there is a cryptid here I should investigate."

"There is no monster here. Well, there's one guy who comes close, but he's still human. Legally if nothing else. and why are you in this form?" Akane semi-rambled.

"This body is a great disguise if nothing else." Ranma replied.

"Well there's no monsters, so if you're-"

"They are not monsters. They're cryptids and frankly they're better than most humans. And if there's one here, I'm going to make sure it's not hurt or hurts anyone else."

"What's your problem with me?" Akane asked, taking his mild insult to humans a bit personally.

Ranma blinked and looked confused. "You? I have no problem with you. Never have."

"Oh don't give me that. You've disliked me since you got here."

"No, I've disliked what our fathers are doing. I have no problem with you or your sisters, not at all. It's our parents I'm angry at."

"Then why have you been acting like such an ass?" Akane asked.

"Long story short, I have nothing to do. And the three of you have made it clear I'm not welcome in your house and you don't want to talk to me."

Akane blinked. "You think _we're_ the ones who don't want to talk to _you_?"

"Do you?" The redhead asked back.

Akane hesitated. "Well, not really, but I assumed that was because you didn't want to talk to us."

"You never gave me a chance to. Just because I hate what our fathers are doing doesn't mean I think you and your sisters are bad people. I mean, you don't blame me for what my old man is doing right?"

Akane couldn't respond right then.

Ranma arched her eyebrows, then frowned. "You think _I'm_ the one who came up with that dumbass plan?"

"No, but..."

"But nothing. You either blame me for it or you don't. Simple as that. Which is it?"

Akane was silent, still not sure how to respond. It was like even though she knew it was Soun and Genma who came up with the whole engagement and living together plan, on a subconscious level she had held Ranma as the one responsible because he irked her. Now, she was forced to address that.

"I... don't blame you." She admitted.

"Good, and I don't blame you or your sisters. I just don't want to be a part of their plan." Ranma explained.

Akane nodded. "I don't either. But could you at least not be so distant to us? Just because we're not cryptoids doesn't mean we're not worth paying attention to."

Ranma looked annoyed. "As long as you guys stop acting like you're just waiting for me to go away. And for the last time, it's cryptids. Crypt-tids. Get it right tomboy."

"Tomboy?" Akane repeated.

"Akane!" One of the girls in her class that wasn't a friend to the youngest Tendo yelled, running up to the martial artist. "Your friends, they've been hurt."

"What?" She asked, worried.

The girl nodded. "Yeah, stings and scratches, like so many others. They're in the nurses office."

Akane instantly ran, and Ranma followed. "Why are you following me?"

"I should see if there really is a cryptid here or not. Stings and scratches aren't exactly a normal combination after all."

Akane in no time made it to the nurses office, with the school nurse trying to get the two girls treated. Neither was making it easy.

"It burns!" Yuka yelled, covering some wounds on her arm.

"My face is on fire!" Sayuri added, some scratches visible on her cheeks.

"Yuka, Sayuri, what happened to you?" Akane asked.

"Please leave, no visitors allowed just yet." The nurse claimed.

Ranma pulled out a badge of some sort. "I'm a professional dangerous animal handler and I'm told there's a risk of an infestation on the grounds. Is this the first time you've treated wounds such as these?"

The nurse looked at the badge. "Is this real?"

"Touch it yourself. Dial the number if you disbelieve me." Ranma said in complete serious.

The nurse considered it, but decided not to challenge the redhead. "No, this is not the first time. On average these injuries have been happening twice a week, always on Monday and Friday."

'Today's Monday.' Akane thought.

"Are they all the same kind of injury?" Ranma asked.

The nurse nodded. "Yes, always stings like large wasps and scratches like some kind of stray cat. At first we considered it was a suzumebachi hive that happened to be nearby, but no hives have been found around or within the school. But that doesn't account for the scratches or the regularity of the attacks."

"Is there a specific time of day these are more likely to happen? Or a specific place within the school where all victims had been?"

"We can't find a place, whatever is causing this is quite mobile and good at stating hidden. As for times, it seems to be most frequent in the mornings and lunchtimes on Mondays, but on Fridays it can be any time."

Ranma put a hand on her chin. "Do the victims all react the same way?"

The nurse nodded. "Yes, no one seems to be showing significant pain compared to others, so I'm certain there's no allergy involved. But they all seem to claim a burning sensation at the place of injury. Burn creams seem to help the pain even if they do nothing to treat the injuries, which seem to heal like any ordinary sting or cut."

"Burning sensation..." Ranma repeated, as if finding that significant.

Akane looked at the redhead in surprise. 'He's handling this so professionally. Like some kind of true expert. No wonder he doesn't want to go to school, what's the point when you're already this good at a job?'

"Do you know what's causing this?" The nurse asked.

"I have some ideas, but I will need to see for myself what's causing this. Do what you can, and let all students keep going on like nothing's wrong, but I'm going to need Tendo-san here assist me in my search."

"What? Me? Why?" Akane asked.

"I need someone that knows the school. And there's no need to get your sister involved when you're right here, and have reason to help me find the culprit." She said, pointing to Yuka and Sayuri who still looked like they were in agony.

Akane looked to her friends, then nodded. "Where do we start?"

Ranma walked into the hallway, with Akane following her. "Infestations always prefer the places humans don't normally go. Where's a place that people don't go?"

"I dunno... the basement? The boiler room?" Akane offered.

"It's a start." Ranma said, gesturing for Akane to show him an access to such a place.

Akane went down the hall, trying to find any such access since she had never bothered looking for one before. "So what was that back there? What's the badge for?"

"You didn't think I worked with cryptids for fun did you?" Ranma asked. "I'm part of an organization that keeps humans and cryptids from endangering each other. I'm sure I told you that when I got here."

"Hmm... yeah I think you did." Akane reflected. "So the badge is for?"

"Think of it as a cover. I can't exactly tell people what I'm dealing with now can I? The badge just tells others I'm a professionally trained animal handler, with a number to my organization that reinforces the cover story if called."

"That's pretty handy." Akane admitted. "What do you think is here? Nothing dangerous, right?"

"Life-threatening? I hope not. All I got are guesses, but nothing that makes sense. Especially the timing, why only those days?"

"I thought you were an expert."

"I never said I knew every cryptid that was out there like the back of my hand. When I first saw Fisk I was really surprised. We still can't identify his proper species. He's just known best as the Fiskerton Phantom."

"Never heard of it."

"You wouldn't, it's not a commonly known story outside of its own region. You'd have to go online to find anything about the story. But basically the town of Fiskerton, England had a humanoid entity roaming in the area, and that entity is Fisk. Pop and I saved him from a frightened mob that were chasing him with torches and weapons."

"So you brought a dangerous creature into my house?" Akane accused, thinking the only reason anyone would chase down something like that was if they were dangerous.

"Has Fisk done anything dangerous since we got here?" Ranma asked. "So many cryptids are misunderstood by people like you."

"Hey! What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means exactly what it sounds like. Does this lead to the lower floors."

Akane looked to a door they had stopped in front of without her noticing. There were no words on it, but it clearly did not lead to any classroom. "I don't know. Only one way to find out."

Ranma carefully opened the door, and saw a set of stairs leading down. "That's good enough for me." She said before heading down, with Akane following.

"Where's the lights?" The youngest Tendo asked, seeing that it was rather dark down here.

"Cryptids could have chewed the wires or something, disabling the lights in the room." Ranma noted. "Either by accident or on purpose to hide better, won't know until I spot them."

"You think there's more than one?" Akane asked.

"Most likely."

Ranmca came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, peering into a wide hall that led to various rooms where maintenance features for the school such as boilers, pipes, and many other things were kept out of reach of the students. She pulled out her Shroud-seeing goggles and put them on, hitting the button to get them to work. "Oh yeah, there's definitely something living down here. And from the looks of it, more than one."

"How many?" Akane nervously asked.

"Not sure, the energy is within the walls."

"Which walls?"

"All of them." Ranma asked.

Akane's eyes widened in mild fear. "All of them? We're surrounded?"

"We can still escape, but these cryptids won't attack." Ranma reassured.

"What makes you so damn sure?" Akane demanded.

"Because they're strengthening the Shroud right now. They don't want to be noticed. They're afraid of us."

"Afraid?" Akane repeated, surprised.

Ranma took off the goggles and her eyes started glowing. Some scurrying sounds were heard and from out of some holes in the walls small creatures started to emerge. Lots of small creatures.

"They look like rats." Akane whispered. "I was expecting something more... evil looking I guess."

"Of course." Ranma said, ignoring the girl. "It's a swarm of hinezumi."

"Of what?" Akane asked, keeping her eyes on the red rodents.

"Hinezumi, AKA fire rats. Often hunted for their fur and venom which can both be used in various ways. Such as fire proof clothing or medicinal ingredients."

"Are you saying these things are poisonous?" Akane asked, getting closer to the redhead for a semblance of protection.

Ranma nodded. "Yes. Despite what the name would have you believe, hinezumi don't actually create fire or anything like that. They instead have toxins in their bites and scratches that feel like you're on fire. And this particular swarm just so happens to be the sasori subspecies, one of the more dangerous ones."

Confused, Akane tried to get a better look at the cryptids. That was when she noticed that each of them had a scorpion tail.

"Bites and stings..." She muttered, realising just what these things had done to her friends.

Ranma nodded again. "Relax, I'm making sure they won't attack us."

"How?" She asked, looking at Ranma's face and seeing her eyes glow.

"I have this sort of power, it lets me control cryptids. Right now they're just going to stay here and wait for me to give them an order."

"Then order them to leave already." Akane insisted.

"And where exactly would they go?" Ranma asked. "You want a cluster of scorpion-tailed poisonous rats to march out into the streets in broad daylight looking for some other building to take shelter in?"

"So what are you going to do then?" The youngest Tendo asked.

Ranma pulled out a cellphone and dialed a number. "Hey Mom, listen I found a swarm of hinezumi within a school. About thirty or so I believe and I'd say they're _Rattus Pyroscorpio_. Think you can get something arranged?" There was a brief pause. "That would be perfect. Thanks Mom, I'll try to keep them out of trouble until then. See you later." She then hung up the phone.

"Please tell me you called your version of pest control." Akane said.

"Actually that's exactly what I did." The redhead replied. "They'll be here after school ends. Fewer witnesses that way. Until then I just need to make sure all the hinezumi are in one place."

"Well, good luck with that. I'm going to be getting back to class."

* * *

The rest of the day went normal despite the fact Akane could not stop thinking about the fact her school was infested with animals she never even knew existed. She didn't have any clue how they got there in the first place, most likely the same way normal rats get inside the buildings they infest, but what bothered her the most was that no one aside from her even knew they were there.

'If these creatures can hide this well, then no wonder some people like Ranma specialize in dealing with them.'

When school ended, Akane stayed in the classroom looking out the window. She wanted to see whoever Ranma called to handle the problem, mostly to reassure herself that it would be handled. After lunch ended she hadn't seen any sign of Ranma, but considering he was trying to collect and contain a bunch of rats that might not be a bad thing.

Close to thirty minutes passed, and Akane was getting impatient. 'What's taking them so long? Shouldn't some armored trucks and guys in armor carrying weapons be rushing here to get rid of the vermin by now?' Looking over the schoolyard where the Hentai Horde and Kuno harassed her on a daily basis, she saw only one person remaining.

"Ranma?" She called out after opening the window.

Now a boy, he turned to the voice. "Akane? What are you doing here still?"

"Making sure those things are gotten rid of. What's taking whoever you called so long?"

"You didn't expect them to show up immediately did you? They're waiting for all the civilians to clear out."

"It's been long enough. I don't think anyone's still here except faculty or custodians." Akane replied.

"We know how to do this job Akane. I didn't start handling cryptids yesterday you know." Ranma claimed. He then heard his phone ring and saw the number was from his mother. "Look at that, she's calling me back. So settle down already." He then accepted the call. "Hello?"

"Greetings and bien venue my old friend." A rather creepy voice said in English like it was trying to impersonate Vincent Price.

Ranma gasped. "You? Where's my mom?" He demanded in English as well.

"Oh, I'm sorry my boy, I should have told her to watch her step." The voice cackled.

Ranma glared. "When I get ahold of you Argost I'm going to-"

"You'll do what boy? I'm not one of your little cryptids to command. Now if you'll excuse me, your mother and I have business to attend to. Don't wait up. But if you ask nicely, maybe I'll let her have a guest appearance on my show." The voice finished, still laughing while the call disconnected.

Careful not to shatter his phone in his hands, Ranma looked up to the girl in the school and returned to speaking Japanese. "Change of plans Akane, the hinezumi will have to wait."


End file.
